Do you have a Love of the Law or a Law of Love?
A demonizing haltered has swept our nation.  Folks of all walks, persuasions and convictions have fallen prey to it.  It seems its the only thing many of us have in common these days...anger and hate.  This is not the Kingdom.  

We can get so focused on what is right by our perspective that we love the rightness over the people we disagree with.  I'll be transparent and share with you that I can fall into this trap myself.  Recently someone I love and admire dropped a truth bomb on me.  You love ideas more than people!  And it hit me I was a Pharisee!

The Pharisees loved their Law far more than the people it was for. Their rightness trumped the loving others every time.  They used it to justify their disdain for those they deemed wrong and sinful.  Jesus abhorred this mentality and confronted it over and over again.  Jesus in Matt. 22:34-40 reveals just the the Law wasn't to point to judgment  but LOVE.  

The Law is a gift if we look where it points us to.  But when we worship the Law, rightness, correctness it is a demon that consumes us.  One that must be expelled.   Join us in The Law of Love as we reclaim a Christ like Love for others and the fulfillment of the Law.

Exceeding Righteousness
Matt. 5:17-20

Prodigal Son(s)
Luke 15

A More Excellent Way
1 Cor. 13

Day 1 Raising the Roof
Two builders one project...raising the roof on a play set.
One follows the instructions to the letter of the Law.  Measuring perfectly.
The other understood the intention of the instructions and did not measure but is true to the intent which was Create a secure top to the playset.

So when builder one had two boards that didn’t line up with the measurements he couldn’t discern how to include them.  And let's face it, those sets rarely have true square boards that aren't warped in some way. So builder one was stuck.

But builder two knew the instructions didn’t specifically say how to get a board attached when the measurements they gave failed but knowing the intention of the engineer could compensate.  So he secured the panel to the frame adapting measurements to finish the project.

Jesus understood the heart of the Law.  It was to build God’s Kingdom not enslave people.  So when he came he was 100% faithful to it and yet stretching its boundaries to include a lot of unsavory people...it looked like he was straying from the instructions.  This infuriated builder on the Pharisees and others.  But they had so focused on measuring that missed the whole picture.

Jesus came to correct our vision and help us to see not the Law but the LAw of Love which is the truth all Scripture points to and is revealed in Jesus, his death and resurrection.

Matthew 22
36 “Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?” 37 He said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the greatest and first commandment. 39 And a second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.”

PRAYER
Lord of my heart,
Teach me to love like you did.
To not measure the worth of others but to simply receive it.
Just as you have simply received me.
I don’t like the pit of judgement in my heart when I judge others.
Free me from it and let me learn the Law of Love.
AMEN.

Day 2 Fulfilling 
Matthew 5:17 “Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets;
I have come not to abolish but to fulfill.

After this statement Jesus begins to unfold a new morality of the heart on issues such as anger, lust, divorce, oaths, vengeance, and enemies.  Looking at these subjects and others he unpacks what the Law says and what the fulfillment or the fullness of that statement lived out actually means.  And what it means is a change not just in action but of heart.

Anger v21-26
So the Law says don't murder.  In essence don't do bad things to people just because you are angry.  But fulfillment says  It's not enough that we resist acting poorly towards others or even just resist thinking badly of them.  We are to seek them out and make peace with them. Because blessed are the Peacemakers from 5:9 for they will be called God’s children.

Lust v27-30
If lust is your issue, or to broaden the term some consuming passion its not enough to resist it.  Though of course its a good start.  However it might be sex, or over consumption of material possessions, or investment in life's distractions.  Like the man whose funeral was all about his love of NASCAR.  That was what defined his life. His NASCAR collection.  It was a lust of his heart. 5: 8 says blessed are the pure in heart for they will see God...not their collections amassed or pleasure had.  Making Him the focus of our life would put all these things in the place they belong.  

Enemies v43- 48
Pray for your enemy don’t just resist getting them back.  You should even love them! For like the merciful in v7 you will receive mercy. 

It is not just about resisting evil it's about an actual transformation.  

• A desire to make peace with those we are at odds' with because we learn by doing so true peace can be discovered not just a cease fire.  
• A knowledge that those things we lust after will never satisfy only God will.
• Learning that harboring hate, anger or bitterness for an enemy only infects you. Actually having love and mercy for them frees our spirit from these toxic emotions.  Even if or especially if the enemy does not deserve it.  (Sadly for some there are deep hurts that give you the unfair chance to love as mercifully as God does.  To you I am sorry but I give you this promise.  You have a chance to be more merciful then most and so to know God's mercy all the more.) 

PRAYER
Lord of peace, purity and love I have lacked these.
I have chosen to indulge my wounded pride over making peace.
I have chosen to focus on lust rather than You.
Often I have not loved my neighbor let alone my enemy.
My heart is fatally flawed, forgive me.
Yet I know you have forgiven me and redeemed me.
I am your child
Who has received mercy
and who one day will be blessed to see you face to face.
All because of the sacrifice of Your son!
Help me today to
Love peace more that being right,
You more than myself
To grow in so much into Your character I even Love my enemies.
And forgive me when I fail.
AMEN

Day 3 Being Religious
Matthew 6 Beware of practicing your piety before others in order to be seen by them; for then you have no reward from your Father in heaven.

Concerning giving, prayer, and fasting among other issues Jesus unfolds how our religious actions have no value when performed for appearances only when they are performed for God.  Here again as in chapter 5 it is about the heart.  

My wife Lesley once asked me to help out more around the house.  She was right to do so but that made no differences to me.  I was not happy.  And while I complied to her request I did so in a less than adult fashion.  

See I can get focused on what I need or want to get done to the exclusion of the needs of others or our household.  I know this about myself.   I'm a last child and we tend to get away with a bit more.  And we tend o to get well a bit babied.   And I grew up as the last child with two older sisters on top of it all.  They did so much for me it drove mom nuts.  She’d chide them but it never stopped them.  I’ve come a long way but old habits die hard.  So now and again I slip into my last child ways.  this was one of those moments.

Instead of readjusting and acknowledging the truth I went over the whole house with a fine tooth comb.  I dusted, mopped, ran laundry, sorted closets, vacuumed, even scrubbed the toilets....everything! But do not imagine it was a selfless act.   I was not showing  love and selflessness to my wife. OH NO!  I was spiteful cleaning.  I was doing every little thing I could think of so I might at the end of the day say with smugness Are you happy now! 

Now Lesley is both insightful and practical.  She saw where all this was going and anticipated my motives and never once as I was secretly hoping said, Oh honey thank you so much that's plenty.   Instead she thought "Hey, if this fool wants to waste his day proving a point and its get everything caught up. and then some...he can have at it!"

None of those 'good' works counted for a thing.  They came from a heart motivated by something other than selflessness.  Sadly my spite.  You can do all the right things people and still be horribly wrong!

For most of us its not so on the nose as my actions.  But maybe its spiritual pride.  A sense of superiority you can feel.  A check list of being a good person.  The heart may not be spiteful but it maybe selfish in the very act of pious religious behaviors.  

PRAYER
Lord, I don’t want to be religious for religion's sake
I want to be faithful for my love of You
I want my religion to ring true with acts of love
I want a desire for  scripture and prayer not to be better than others
But because I want to be with You
I want to be generous as a trait not a force of habit
I want to serve only You not appearances.
Help my heart to be focused on you in all I do.
AMEN
 

Day 1 Join the Party
Luke 15:11-32
In the story of the prodigal we have not one but two lost sons.
One who knows his father’s goodness yet wishes to go his own way and does.
And a son who stays close to the father but far from his heart.

Both sons fail to anticipate the depths of his Father's love.  The younger does not trust the father’s love to be the best for his life.  The older man does not know the depth of his fathers grace and mercy. In the parable the younger ironically in his rebellion learns the depth of the father’s love and mercy. But we are left guessing in the end if the older brother will learn his lesson as well and accept his father’s invitation.

In this parable we have two very different natures.  

• One the younger brother that chafes under the authority and so rebels.  
• The older brother who submits but perceives his submission as a slave like duty.  

One does not see that the father has every right to demand his obedience.  The other does not see the father’s true heart.  

Which son reflects you more?
YOUNGER: Do you tend to justify or desire wrong behavior?  
Younger Brothers often do not trust God’s nature enough to think His ways are what are best for them. They see them as restrictions not loving boundaries. They fear missing out on what the world truly has to offer.  Casting off the cloak of their Father’s authority they run their blessings into the ground.  So younger brothers miss the party of blessing in their proper place the way in which we can enjoy them to their fullest.

OLDER: Do you resent the yoke of obedience?  
Older Brothers spend time judging their behavior and others.  They have a deep concern for right and wrong but not much compassion for the people they subject to their convictions of correctness.  Having not known the mercy given them they tend not to offer it to others. So they miss out on the party because they miss the freedom in God’s love.

Neither son fully understands the love of the Father.  A love that should inspire obedience and make us aware of the great mercy of being in relationship with Him.  
If we know His love we know His ways are best for us and we can enjoy what He provides to the fullest.  If we know his mercy for us we can let go of judging others and ourselves and join the party!

Come Join the Party

PRAYER
LORD I know your love for us is deeper than we can fathom.
You in your majesty deserve nothing less than all of me.
A life of obedience to You that will also bless me.
You in your amazing love mercy deserve nothing less than my grateful heart.
A life of love and acceptance of others that will be a blessing to me.
Help me to follow your ways and love with a heart like Yours
Amen

Day 2 Jesus Isn’t Fair
Luke 15:11-32
The Father in the parable of the Prodigal Son evaluates by the nature of the heart rather than surface appearances.  ITs like a Law of Love governs his actions and reactions.

This Law of Love can be a tricky thing to navigate.  At first it chafes against our sense of right and wrong.  It seems ambiguous and unfixed both qualities we uncertain humans often long for.  We like things fixed and nailed down.  The Law of Love seems moved by sentiment an unfixed attitude and approach.  But this just isn't so.

By the Law of Love Jesus eats with sinners, freely invites tax-collectors into the Kingdom, and rewards outcasts.  He seems to make access to the Kingdom as simple as possible for them.  Then a Rich Young Ruler who has kept the Law approaches and asks what he must do to enter the Kingdom.  Jesus replies, “Sell it all, give it to the poor then follow me.”  Jesus just really isn’t fair...when we Judge by the Law.   Sinners get in free and morally upright fine young men are asked to pay.  How's that fair?

The Law of Love is not shifting though its manifestations maybe.  Its target is always dead center and never off the mark.  And while the Law may seem more direct and clear in actuality the Law invites ambiguity.  In fact Jesus often criticized the Pharisees and Scribes for ignoring the heart of the Law and exploiting some of its ambiguities.

For instance on divorce Matt. 5:31-32 they followed the letter of the Law meaning simply giving your wife a letter of divorce and it was done.  But the Law Jesus explains made this concession to accommodate the hard hearted. It was by no means a reflection of the appropriate approach of commitment in marriage.

Now let’s not make the mistake of making Jesus’ words into a new letter of the law.  It reveals a deeper truth about being faithful in marriage.  The church for centuries has recognized that unfaithfulness includes addictions, abuse, etc. not just literal infidelity.  We know the heart of what Jesus is saying.  And that's where the Law of Love gets hard.  

It's the judgement of the heart not the Letter of the Law.  Its why we can't judge each other.  Its the same principle behind why we get mad when cutoff in traffic but when we ourselves cut someone off we know it was an honest mistake.  We know our hearts but not theirs. Jesus saw Matthew's heart, the Samaritan woman's, the woman caught in adulator and so many more and waved them in.  But the Rich Young Ruler needed something more...what?  Well I'm not fit to judge that only Jesus is.

But we keep trying to stuff our the Law of Love back into a box.  To turn the wild all consuming heart of God into something we can contain and calculate.  Stop trying because you will only fail.  Or worse yet restrain it with a set of nails.  

PRAYER
LORD your love is scary and beyond me.
It is awe inspiring and uncontainable.  
I fear its vastness and unimaginable depths.
Help me not to seek to contain you for myself.
Or for anyone else.
Let me live by the Law of Love that reveals my true inner heart and its desires.
That which only You can show me.
And what desires of my heart that do not belong may I use the certificate of your son’s sacrifice to divorce myself from my unfaithfulness.
And what is of You let me be true and committed to nurturing it for Your glory.
AMEN

Day 3 You Don’t Want Justice
Luke 15:11-32
We’ve been hard on the older brother haven’t we?  
He is there after all doing the work.  The Father even says “You are always with me…”
So while we have observed the Law of Love let us not make the mistake of ignoring obedience and self-control even when the nature of the heart is lacking.  In these acts we can grow and learn to have transformed hearts.  That's why I have a great hope for the big brother.

A person may desire to steal and the only reality that keeps them from it is getting caught.  But that law doesn't restrain them and the evil in their heart.  The Older Brother may have had a desire to live as the younger brother did but he doesn’t.  He may see his work for the father and obedience to him a slave-like ordeal and this is wrong, but he does submit.  We just don’t want to leave him there.  And if you are an older brother we don’t want to leave you there either!

We hope the older brother can see the joy in a brother’s return.  
We pray he can see the beautiful injustice of the Father who has accepted the younger back.

In one of C.S. Lewis’ greatest but perhaps least known works Till we have Faces the offended Orual who lost her beloved sister to the faceless god ascends to heaven to demand justice.  Along the way she meets her old tutor Fox.  Upon learning Orual’s intent the Fox replies:

Fox: “Infinite hopes—and fears—may both be yours.
         Be sure that, whatever else you get, you will not get justice.”
Orual: “Are the gods not just?”
Fox: “Oh no, child. What would become of us if they were?”
― C.S. Lewis, Till We Have Faces: A Myth Retold

The implication being Orual couldn’t endure true justice.  You want justice?  You can’t handle justice.  The Older Brother wants justice but could he himself handle true justice? He himself has defined his relationship to the father as a slave.  Scripture makes it clear we cannot slave our way into heaven.  We cannot earn it.

But the father in the parable has accepted him.  And all those years of faithfulness will do him no good if he does not recognize himself as a son.  I have hope he will see the beautiful injustice of the father towards his kid brother.  I hope he realizes that what he has wanted all along himself has always been there to receive sonship.  That's my prayer for us also...

PRAYER
LORD show me mercy.
Let me know the mercy shown me in Christ.
Help me to live and work not like a slave toiling
But like a beloved child reveling in Your love.
And when I see others not getting what they deserve
May I pray the justice found in Jesus sacrifice for us
and let me celebrate.
Amen.

Coming soon
Day 1

Day 2

Day 3